The Funding Period 2007-2013: What is new, what will be better?
The number of objectives and financial instruments has been reduced. The 3 objectives will be financed through 3 funds : the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund.
The guiding principles of the former URBAN, EQUAL and LEADER community initiatives have been mainstreamed into the ‘Convergence’ and the ‘Regional Competitiveness and Employment’ objective.
The Cohesion Fund will finance major transport and environmental projects with a strong focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and clean urban and public transport.
The European initiative INTERREG III will continue within a new ‘European Territorial Cooperation’ objective under the name INTERREG IV. It appears that exchange of experiences and networking has been “promoted” and gained a more important position to become an objective in itself. It has to be noted, though, that the budget allocated to this type of activities has not increased. Moreover, there are 27 Member States now using a lower budget than before. It still rests a major programme for exchange of experiences and best practice.
Housing used to be eligible for financing from the European Regional Development Fund only as a part of an integrated urban development plan in all Member States that acceded the EU on or after 1 May 2004. However, a new amendment to the ERDF regulation was adopted by the European Parliament on 2 April 2009 (see press release here), allowing regional and local authorities to spend EU funds on increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in existing housing in all EU 27 Member States.
Regional Initiatives and Fast Track Projects in the ‘European territorial cooperation’ programmes will ensure that good practice is exchanged between the cities and regions and their fast mainstream to the programmes financed under the first 2 objectives. Thus, the exchange of experience can rapidly be transferred into real action.
Managing authorities can be directly involved in the projects (e.g. URBACT II programme) in order to ensure the mainstreaming of the action to the main objectives.
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| Cohesion Policy backs "green economy" for growth and long-term jobs in Europe
9 March 2009: €105 billion will be invested in the "green economy" through the EU Cohesion Policy. The funding, which represents more than 30% of the regional policy budget for 2007-2013, offers a solid platform for job creation and a significant boost for regions and cities in their quest to maintain Europe’s global leadership in the field of green technologies.
The EU has embraced ambitious objectives in the fight against climate change – a 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions with a 20% share of renewable energies in EU energy consumption by 2020. With €48 billion targeted at measures aimed at achieving EU climate objectives and creating a low carbon economy, the Cohesion Policy is making a considerable contribution to these goals. This includes €23 billion for railways, €6 billion for clean urban transport, €4.8 billion for renewable energies and €4.2 billion for energy efficiency. Read more
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 New funds, better rules : Overview of new financial rules and funding opportunities 2007-2013 : A beginners’ guide - European Commission, 2007
The guide, intended for newcomers to EU funding, depicts new rules in European funds and is divided in four parts:
overview of main funding opportunities, practical improvements of the new EU programmes for 2007-2013, transparency and effectiveness of the control, new programmes related to the Financial Framework 2007-2013
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